RETROCHARACTERIZATION OF THE WEEK: So Paris is an Old Salt, eh? And
just where exactly did this come from? In four years we've never gotten any indication
that this was the case. Sure, we've never seen an ocean on Voyager before, but we
have seen Paris playing pool on the holodeck, playing automobile mechanic on the holodeck,
playing Captain Proton on the holodeck, etc. We've never seen him sailing the high seas on
the holodeck. If his "first love" is the ocean, you'd think it would have
manifested itself before this.

STARFLEET UNINTELLIGENCE OF THE WEEK: Yeah, this category is usually
reserved for Deep Space Nine reviews, but there's a pretty egregious case here,
as, once again, an unauthorized shuttle launch takes place. How the hell can that happen?
Don't they lock the garage doors, or have them wired to alarms? How could Tuvok not find
out that someone fired up the Delta Fryer until it was out of the hangar and out of
tractor beam range? Maybe he should be tossed in the brig, too.

GRATUITOUS FX OF THE WEEK: Was any purpose served by the sea monster?
Just checking...

INCONSISTENT TECH OF THE WEEK: Tuvok warns that they can't fire
phasers at the Delta Fryer because it will cause a "hydrodynamic shockwave." Yet
Seven fired phasers at the sea monster earlier in the episode with no catastrophic effect.
So which is it? And are we to believe that the detonation of a photon torpedo won't
cause a "hydrodynamic shockwave?" It did disable the Delta Fryer, after all, and
since the explosion was closer to the refinery complex than it was to the Fryer, it seems
possible that that was disabled as well, opening the possibility that Janeway failed to
protect it. Who knows, maybe the unseen attack that took place during Paris' incarceration
was revenge by the Monotones because Janeway destroyed their refinery...

CLICHE OF THE WEEK: Has there ever been a "submarine" show
or movie in which the hull doesn't breach, spilling water all over the occupants?
And of course, all it takes is a little hand-welder to make the Delta Fryer sea-worthy,
not to mention space-worthy? Please...

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OF THE WEEK: Janeway saw fit to bless yet another
under-teched race with Starfleet gizmos, namely the thruster and shield specifications
requested by the Monotone politician. Janeway used to go all-out to keep Voyager's
tech out of the hands of these Delta Quadrant bumpkins, but lately she's been giving it up
to every Forehead Alien race with a sob story to tell. It's not even clear these people
were warp-capable. Maybe Janeway should throw herself in the brig, too...

DEAD HORSE OF THE WEEK: Well, the Captain Proton program wore out its
welcome even more quickly than DS9's Vic the Holosap. Sadly, we're only a few weeks away
from an entire episode devoted to this crap.

BELATED APPEARANCE OF THE WEEK: It's a strange time to finally show
the Delaney sisters. In the first couple of seasons, their names were dropped on a fairly
regular basis, but I don't think they've been mentioned, since. The suits requested even
more T&A, I guess.

DISCIPLINE OF THE WEEK: No, not the little femdom routine with Harry
and the Delaney sisters (Braga's idea, I'll wager), but Janeway's punishment of Paris. I
think that a one-grade demotion and thirty days in the cooler is little more than a slap
in the wrist. Still, Janeway's getting better; she used to just give her errant officers
(like Tuvok and Torres) the "I believed in you, and you let me down" speech. Now
she gives them the "I believed in you, and you let me down" speech and a
couple weeks in the pokey. I suppose credit is do for not totally resetting and
whitewashing the issue, but it remains to be seen whether Ensign Paris will be any
different as a result of this episode.

TEMPORAL ANOMALY OF THE WEEK: B'Elanna invites (or orders) Tom over
for dinner. "Come to my quarters at 0700." 0700? For dinner?